The WZ551 is a Chinese wheeled armored personnel carrier. Its official designation in the People's Liberation Army is Type 92. The design outwardly resembles the French VAB APC, but it is larger and heavier. Produced by Norinco, the WZ551 first appeared in 1986, but the Chinese military were not satisfied with its performance, and the design had to be modified. The definitive WZ551A entered service in 1995 as the Type 92 IFV and Type 92A APC.

The structure is based on a Chinese 6x6 truck which is a copy of the German Mercedes-Benz 2060. It has a crew of three men, and is fully amphibious, being driven in the water by shrouded propellers.

The IFV version is equipped with a 25 mm cannon and a 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun in a closed turret and it can carry 9 passengers. The APC version has only a 12.7 mm machine gun but can carry 11 passengers. Additional versions include anti-tank missile, command, self-propelled artillery, air defense and armored recovery vehicles.

Roughly 600 WZ551s are in service with the PLA, where they are used by light mechanized infantry units. WZ551s have been exported to Sri Lanka and Pakistan but also to Algeria and Bosnia in small numbers.

Variations

• The WZ551 comes in three variations:
• the 4X4 APC looks like the VAB, used mostly by the Chinese police
• the 6X6 APC or MICV
• an 8x8 variant under development
• Type 90 - newer version
• Type 92A - newer version
• ZSL-92 and ZSL-92A - newer version

Operators

• : 24
• : 600
• : 200 (80 IFV, 120 APC)

See also

• People's Liberation Army Ground Force land arm of the People's Liberation Army
• People's National Army land arm of the Algerian Armed Forces

External links

• http://www.sinodefence.com/army/armour/wz551.asp
• http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/china/wz-551.htm